I Write Like....

[Juana]

Based on fairly large chunks of text: JK Rowling, Ian Fleming, Marget Atwood, HP Lovecraft, and James Joyce. I've never read Lovecraft or Joyce.  

[Cainad (dec.)]

I got Stephen King a few times, Raymond Chandler once, and Jane Austen once. Never read any of them.

[Dimocritus]

Using only rants I've posted in OKM, I've gotten J.K. Rowling, Stephen King and Dab Brown. Do not like...

[President Television]

I ran a few things of mine through. My results:

Stephen King
Margaret Atwood
Stephen King
HP Lovecraft
Margaret Atwood
Dan Brown

So I guess I write like Margaret Atwood.

I have never read anything by Atwood.

EDIT: I posted some text from an MSN convo with a friend and apparently I was writing like Vladimir Nabokov. The guy who wrote Lolita. 

[Cramulus]

remember that the style of the person's writing may not have anything to do with the content... just because it says you write l like Stephen King doesn't mean you spend six pages describing somebody's medicine cabinet.

I do wonder what the algorithm is. I would guess some readability index like the Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level is involved. Computers can easily calculate those things. In case you're curious...

     FKRA = (0.39xASL) + (11.8xASW) − 15.59

     Where, FKRA = Flesch-Kincaid Reading Age

     ASL = Average Sentence Length (i.e., the number of words divided by the number of sentences)

     ASW = Average number of Syllables per Word (i.e., the number of syllables divided by the number of words)

there are a number of readability indexes

you can test a chunk of text here: http://www.addedbytes.com/code/readability-score/

for example, my piece The Strange Times is apparently written at an 8th grade level 

[Eater of Clowns]

remember that the style of the person's writing may not have anything to do with the content... just because it says you write l like Stephen King doesn't mean you spend six pages describing somebody's medicine cabinet.

I do wonder what the algorithm is. I would guess some readability index like the Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level is involved. Computers can easily calculate those things. In case you're curious...

     FKRA = (0.39xASL) + (11.8xASW) − 15.59

     Where, FKRA = Flesch-Kincaid Reading Age

     ASL = Average Sentence Length (i.e., the number of words divided by the number of sentences)

     ASW = Average number of Syllables per Word (i.e., the number of syllables divided by the number of words)

there are a number of readability indexes

you can test a chunk of text here: http://www.addedbytes.com/code/readability-score/

for example, my piece The Strange Times is apparently written at an 8th grade level 

I wrote the entirety of '09 NaNoWriMo in Google Docs, which has the Flesch-Kincaid reability level included in their word count feature, which I would use frequently.  I cringed as the project went on and I saw the index plunge every day.  It started pretty high, and then, well.

[President Television]

for example, my piece The Strange Times is apparently written at an 8th grade level 

I don't mean to toot my own horn(obviously I do), but when I was in Grade 4 I was reading at a Grade 8 level.

[Golden Applesauce]

remember that the style of the person's writing may not have anything to do with the content... just because it says you write l like Stephen King doesn't mean you spend six pages describing somebody's medicine cabinet.

I do wonder what the algorithm is. I would guess some readability index like the Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level is involved. Computers can easily calculate those things. In case you're curious...

     FKRA = (0.39xASL) + (11.8xASW) − 15.59

     Where, FKRA = Flesch-Kincaid Reading Age

     ASL = Average Sentence Length (i.e., the number of words divided by the number of sentences)

     ASW = Average number of Syllables per Word (i.e., the number of syllables divided by the number of words)

there are a number of readability indexes

you can test a chunk of text here: http://www.addedbytes.com/code/readability-score/

for example, my piece The Strange Times is apparently written at an 8th grade level 

I've always been suspicious of "reading level" formulas.  I put this post into the link you gave.  If you only include the main paragraph, you get

Flesch-Kinkaid Grade Level - 88
Gunning-Fog Score - 92
Smog Index - 19
Automated Readability Index - 112
Coleman-Liau Index - 9 (pretty reasonable, actually.)

Now, that post is not the paragon of legibility, but run-on sentences do not require grade 80+ to decipher.  That's moronic.

I feel the need to devise my own index, now.  It should count clauses in sentences, and use frequency of words in common usage rather than multisyllableness.

I wrote the entirety of '09 NaNoWriMo in Google Docs, which has the Flesch-Kincaid reability level included in their word count feature, which I would use frequently.  I cringed as the project went on and I saw the index plunge every day.  It started pretty high, and then, well.

No need to feel bad about that!  A lower reading level (should) means that your text is easier to understand.  People don't read books because slogging through sentences your sentences is difficult, but because they like the story.

for example, my piece The Strange Times is apparently written at an 8th grade level 

I don't mean to toot my own horn(obviously I do), but when I was in Grade 4 I was reading at a Grade 8 level.

Tested at "13+" in grade 4.  Where's that vuvuzela emote?

[The Johnny]

But wait Cram, theres several things, your Strange Times scored a 69/100 in "readability", even do its "8th grade".

[The Johnny]

for example, my piece The Strange Times is apparently written at an 8th grade level 

I don't mean to toot my own horn(obviously I do), but when I was in Grade 4 I was reading at a Grade 8 level.

Tested at "13+" in grade 4.  Where's that vuvuzela emote?

I guess it would be more "important" where you are at right now 

[The Johnny]

Im at 25%/100 readability, which is why im not sure the comparison to Joyce was a flattering one (considering i tested out an essay, not a short story or similar).

Grade level 18, so i guess i should have graduated college 2 years ago? FML for starting late.

[Iason Ouabache]

I got a whole lot of Margaret Atwood and Dan Brown. I wish they would actually explain why your style matches the particular author.

[Cramulus]

Now, that post is not the paragon of legibility, but run-on sentences do not require grade 80+ to decipher.  That's moronic.

yeah, but your example is unrealistic. Nobody writes 80+ word sentences.


In the textbook industry, we use the grade index as a tool to hone writing to a certain difficulty level. For example, a third grade reading book will go from reading level 2.5 to 4 over the course of the year.


My company publishes ESL books, which are geared to be somewhat easier to read than the mainstream textbooks. Our level 5 book (for example) has roughly the same grade reading level as a 2nd grade mainstream book.

[Doktor Howl]

Dan Brown?

DAN FUCKING BROWN?

This is a joke, right?  They have about 5 authors listed, and they are assigned at random.  Cram, you slick bastard.

[Jasper]

Huh, my social psych final had a Gunning Fog score of 14.  Which is more or less exactly the 'grade' I wrote it in.